Darien Weatherspoon is the program director of the Health Disparities Research Program at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). He received his dental degree from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, and completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency program and received his MPH degree from the University of Michigan. He then went on to complete a dental public health residency program at NIDCR and is board-certified in the specialty of dental public health.

Prior to joining NIDCR, Dr. Weatherspoon was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry where he conducted oral health disparities research and helped to administer the College’s community-based service learning program. In addition to oral health disparities, his other areas of research interest include: access to care, oral epidemiology, and oral cancer.